Inside The Bills

Dolphins starting QB Matt Moore is listed as questionable, and sounds very much like a game time decision for Sunday’s game with the Bills.

“He threw the ball better,” said Dolphins interim head coach Todd Bowles after Friday’s practice. “We still got to wait until Sunday just to make sure there’s no lingering effects. We’ll wait and see.”

Moore was limited in practice both Thursday and Friday. If he can’t go Sunday, backup and former Bills first-round draft choice J.P. Losman will get the start.

J.P. Losman, who may start Sunday against the Bills for Miami, still has a soft spot for Buffalo. A city he openly adopted as his own during his time with the Bills, Losman was happy for the city when the team got off to a hot start.

“When Buffalo was winning early in the year, trust me, I was very happy for Buffalo,” he said. “And I was very happy for the city of Buffalo to be excited. I have a lot of newfound family in Buffalo still. I still have my house there. I’ve got a lot of friends there, and still have a lot of love for Buffalo.

“The fans were great to me, and my friends up there were great to me, and I want nothing but the best for that city.”

Losman also found his wife, whom he married this past July, in Buffalo. They’re expecting their first child in February.

Dolphins starting QB Matt Moore did not practice on Wednesday, but has not been ruled out for Sunday’s game against the Bills.

Interim head coach Todd Bowles confirmed that J.P. Losman took the starter’s reps in practice Wednesday, but did not say that Moore has been ruled out of Sunday’s game.

“It’s still early in the process,” said Bowles. “It’s Wednesday. He’s being evaluated and honestly I couldn’t answer that until we find out what the evaluation is on Matt (Moore) later on. We’ll have a better idea then.”

Moore, who suffered a blow to the head and neck spasms was forced from last week’s game against Philadelphia and was replaced by Losman. He was present at practice, which is an indication that he passed concussion testing. If a player does suffer a concussion they usually are sent home to rest.

If Losman gets the start it’ll be his first NFL start since the 2008 season while still with the Bills.

Dolphins head coach Tony Sparano had to turn to J.P. Losman at quarterback after starter Matt Moore left Sunday’s game with a reported mild concussion. Here was his review of Losman’s performance.

“J.P. did a good job in the game yesterday,” Sparano said. “Given the circumstances J.P came into the game and I wouldn’t say we had to throw it. It was still a two score game somewhere in and around there. But obviously had to move the football. There was some things that were happening on that ground that were giving us some chunk plays.

“But J.P. came in right away and made a big third down conversion on the throw to (Anthony) Fasano I believe it was. Threw an excellent ball to (Anthony) Fasano down the middle, a good ball to (Brian) Hartline on the sideline and threw another good ball to (Anthony) Fasano in the red area there that we just didn’t finish.

“I thought he did some pretty good things. For his first time out there really in quite a while there’s going to be some things he’s going to be able to learn from. He’ll see the film I’m sure today at some point. But I was pleased with what he did when he went into the game in those circumstances.”

Dolphins Pro Bowl LT Jake Long was knocked out of Sunday’s game against the Eagles Sunday and Miami’s offensive line was a shambles in his absence.

Long left with a reported back injury and Dolphins head coach Tony Sparano was guarded in his comments about his best offensive lineman.

“From Jake Long’s standpoint you guys will get that on Wednesday,” said Sparano in his Monday press conference.

Miami gave up nine sacks Sunday in the loss to the Eagles, with Matt Moore sacked four times and knocked from the game. J.P. Losman was sacked five times. The Dolphins have given up more sacks than any other team in the league allowing 44 on the season.

With the Dolphins coming to Buffalo this week there’s a chance there will be a bit more intrigue than initially expected for two teams that are out of the AFC playoff race. That’s because there’s a chance that J.P. Losman may start for Miami on Sunday.

Losman stepped into the Dolphins lineup Sunday in the loss to the Eagles after Matt Moore left with what’s been reported as a mild concussion. Losman went 6-10 passing for 60 yards in relief of Moore.

Dolphins head coach Tony Sparano shed some light on Moore’s condition at his Monday press conference.

“Matt Moore yesterday when he came out of the game expressed on the sideline I think some concussive like symptoms so we have to go through the process and that’s what we’re doing right now. We’re going through the process. We’ll continue to do that and see where we go,” Sparano said.

Losman has not made an NFL start since the 2008 season with the Bills in the giveaway loss to the Jets 31-27 at the old Meadowlands.

Bills former quarterback J.P. Losman will be on the opposite sideline Sunday when Buffalo travels to Miami. Veteran Chris Kelsay was asked if he hoped they’d see Losman on the field.

“I guess you can always hope and I don’t mean in regard to J.P. and his talent, but their starting quarterback is Moore and if he’s not playing that means we’re getting pressure on him and sacking him and knocking him out of the game and that brings in J.P.,” said Kelsay. “So it’d be great to see J.P.”

Losman has spent time with the Raiders and Seahawks since moving on from the Bills after the 2008 season.

“The hardest part in the NFL once you leave the team that drafted you is sticking somewhere,” Losman told Dolphins Digest. “You just go down the line of the list of coaches that I’ve played for… I’m here to work and hopefully I stick.”

Trent Edwards’ release might be surprising to some, but it was clear his career was headed in the wrong direction in Buffalo.

A change of scenery may prove to be just what the young quarterback needs to rebuild his career. Here’s a look at his record as a starter for the Bills year by year.

2007 – 5-4
2008 – 7-7
2009 – 2-6
2010 – 0-2
————–
Total – 14-18

The 14-18 record is certainly not much to be proud of, but the starting quarterback that came before him (J.P. Losman) had a starting record of 10-23. Still it was clear that the Bills’ offense was energized by Fitzpatrick’s presence in the lineup on Sunday, something that was not evident with Edwards under center.

Edwards is a hard worker and has physical talent, but he’s going to need to rebuild his mental toughness going forward to re-establish himself in this league.

It was looking more and more like J.P. Losman was going to sign with the Colts in the near future. Indy is in need of a backup QB with playing experience, as Jim Sorgi is on I-R and their only other backup is rookie Curtis Painter. But it appears there’s now serious competition for Losman from another NFL club.

But Losman was under the tutelage of Jim Fassel, a known QB rehabilitator. With Bruce Gradkowski injured, JaMarcus Russell a mess and Charlie Frye an unrealistic option Losman heads to Oakland with an opportunity to be a long term answer at quarterback.

It’s not surprising that Raiders chairman Al Davis is interested in Losman. Davis is still trying to run the deep ball offense that made the Raiders so successful in the 70’s and Losman is not afraid to chuck it.

He’s also much closer to his hometown of Venice, than he would be had things worked out in Indy. But in Indy he’s a backup. In Oakland he’d have a legitimate chance to play. Not right away as he has an offense to learn, but perhaps late this year or next season.

I neglected to pass this along over the weekend, but for those that may have missed it, J.P. Losman had a workout late last week with an undefeated NFL team.

The Indianapolis Colts worked Losman out last Friday. With veteran backup Jim Sorgi out with an undisclosed injury to his throwing shoulder, rookie Curtis Painter has been Peyton Manning’s backup the past four games. Manning has been nagged by a glute injury, but hasn’t missed any time.

Still with the status of Sorgi uncertain and Painter having no NFL regular season game experience, the Colts appear to be seeking a QB with some NFL experience, especially considering the fact that they’re likely to sit Manning for the last couple of games of the regular season if they have AFC home field advantage clinched.

Personally, I think the Colts are just covering all the bases in the event that Sorgi is not ready to play a game in place of Manning at season’s end.

What makes this particularly interesting is if the Colts do in fact sign Losman in the next couple of weeks because Sorgi won’t be ready, and Indy takes care of business by clinching AFC home field advantage for the playoffs, the Bills might face Losman in the regular season finale on Jan. 3rd at Ralph Wilson Stadium. It would certainly make an otherwise meaningless season finale for the Bills a lot more intriguing. Stay tuned.

J.P. Losman and the Las Vegas Locomotives clinched a berth in the inaugural UFL championship game last night with a 16-10 win over California.

Losman who went 16-29 passing for 199 yards and TD, commented after last night’s game.

“It feels great, it’s a big relief,” Losman said. “I know there was a lot riding on it. Both teams out there battled. We knew coming into this game it was going to be tough. They (California) have gotten much better since the first game of the season. We felt that we’ve been on a roll offensively the last couple of weeks.

“We’ve had 2 of 3 weeks in a row where we’ve felt we have been doing some good things. They did a good job today, we weren’t as sharp as we’d like to be on the offensive side, but, this is the biggest team game in the world, and our defense played an excellent and special teams got us a big turnover at the right time. D was able to stop them at the end of the game.”

Losman and his Locomotive teammates will face the undefeated Florida Tuskers (5-0) coached by former Bills linebacker Jim Haslett on Nov. 27 in Las Vegas.

In his UFL debut last night former Bills QB J.P. Losman got off to a rough start, but finished strong as his Las Vegas Locomotives beat the California Redwoods 30-17.

Losman had a pair of first half fumbles, one of which resulted in touchdown for California putting the Redwoods up 14-3, but he led a two-minute scoring drive at the end of the first half which he capped with a 1-yard touchdown pass to DeDe Dorsey to make it 14-10 at the half.

He looked more in sync in the second half and threw an 11-yard TD pass to his TE Adam Bergen to give the Locos the lead 17-14 in the third quarter en route to an opening win.

Losman finished the game 21-31 for 226 yards and two touchdowns. I think deciding to play for Jim Fassel might prove to be very wise for Losman. In the first half when he had the two fumbles Losman was getting annoyed, but when he came to the sidelines Fassel calmed him right down, got him re-focused and he had an efficient two-minute drill.

Fassel has fixed other QBs before. It’ll be very interesting to see what he can do with Losman.

The UFL announced the team name for the Las Vegas team that J.P. Losman will be playing for this fall.

The Las Vegas club will be called the Locomotives. And while they did announce the team name and show the team colors with this mannequin in a uniform (see photo below), they did not reveal the team logo, which comes at a later date apparently. But here are the duds Losman will be wearing in October. Here are more uniform photos to view in a larger size if you want.

Former Bills QB J.P. Losman who officially signed with the Las Vegas franchise of the fledgling UFL had more to say about his signing as he’s one of the league’s marquee names right now.

“The United Football League is providing me with the opportunity to play the sport I love at a high level and for that, I am extremely grateful,” said Losman. “There are many players just like me who possess the skills to compete at the highest levels and just need the playing time to showcase their talents. The United Football League is filling that void and giving more players the opportunity to play. I am excited to get back out onto the field and represent Las Vegas during the League’s first season.”

While the statement sounds a bit orchestrated, there’s no debating that playing is what’s most important to Losman and in the UFL he’ll get the chance to do so. There won’t be any politicking or jockeying for a starting role. He’s the man for Las Vegas, and will get a chance to prove it. That would not have happened for him this year in the NFL.

It took a while,but is pretty much official now with ESPN reporting that J.P.Losman has signed with the UFL’s Las Vegas franchise.

Losman had long been rumored to be one of the marquee players for the Las Vegas team as the four team upstart league embarks on an inaugural 6-game schedule this fall.

“I’m trying to get back on the field as soon as possible,” Losman told ESPN. “I love the game. I want to play this game. I don’t want to be [in the NFL] waiting for somebody to get hurt or not play well. “We’re trying to have as much success as possible here, try to create some buzz … and then go through [NFL free agency] again next year.”

No doubt the biggest attraction in addition to playing time was the chance to be coached by a veteran coach known for repairing quarterback’s games in Jim Fassel.

Fassel, not surprisingly told ESPN he has faith that Losman can revive his career.

“If I had doubt that he should not be a starting winning quarterback, I wouldn’t take it on,” Fassel told ESPN, “But I had the same feeling with Kerry Collins … J.P.’s got tremendous athletic skills. This guy should be a starter in the NFL. I mean, come on … But I still understand you can help a guy. Even Tiger Woods needs a swing coach. “Listen, if he’d have went back to the NFL and sat on the bench this year, then he’d have been no better off next year. Whatever anybody thought about him, they’d still say the same thing. Nothing would’ve changed.”

Its hard to disagree with that logic knowing at best Losman would have been holding a clipboard in the NFL this year. This way he can avoid sitting and any potential QB competitions and just play.

If he can’t succeed in a league of lesser talent with a coach known for fixing QBs then he will have lost nothing because there are obviously a lot of NFL coaches that don’t really believe he can make them better right now.

A good, productive, consistent season in the UFL could change that thinking.

My only question is will a six game season be enough of a litmus test to convince the doubters in NFL personnel departments?

J.P. Losman has not been officially announced by the UFL as the quarterback of their Las Vegas franchise, but he might as well be.

If you go to the UFL preview link at league’s website you’ll see a shot of Losman in his Bills duds and a write-up alongside the photo that pretty much calls him the poster boy for what the league is about, showcasing talent that slips through the cracks in the NFL.

It then explains how the slideshow is the first of four showcasing the “stars” of the Las Vegas team. They used the quotes around stars, not me.

Listed along with Losman as the stars of the Las Vegas club are former NFL’ers David Kircus (WR) and Adam Archuleta (S). And a college player RB Tyrell Fenroy, who had 5,000 rushing yards in college.

There was some talk about a big announcement of some of the larger name signings by the league, but it looks as if that’s been submarined a bit with this content linked to their own site.

Of course if they get Michael Vick to play in their league that will be the only big announcement they’ll need to make to get people interested.

ESPN’s Chris Mortensen who has a connection with United Football League commissioner Michael Huyghue tweeted about the future of J.P. Losman who was not drafted.

On Mort’s twitter account he explained that Losman was not part of the draft pool, but that he will play for the Las Vegas club, which makes sense since Las Vegas did not draft a QB. Mort said that most of the QBs were “protected” by the league, which I can only guess means they could not be drafted (e.g. Losman, Vick and maybe a few others out there).

Mort also shared that the four UFL teams will sign 30 players by July 1st and then another 30 in September after NFL clubs make final cuts for a total roster count of 60, with 50 able to dress on game day.